Wagin, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Wagin
state = wa


caption = Giant Ram at Wagin (see Australia's Big Things)
lga = Shire of Wagin
postcode = 6315
pop = 2,427 [Census 2006 AUS | id = UCL527400 | name = Wagin (Urban Centre/Locality) | quick = on | accessdate = 2008-02-28]
est = 1890s
stategov = Wagin
fedgov = O'Connor
dist1 = 228
location1= Perth
dist2 = 50
location2= Narrogin
dist3 = 53
location3= Katanning
maxtemp = 22.8
mintemp = 9.7
rainfall = 436.1
elevation = 303coord|-33.314|117.344|type:city(2427)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Wagin is a town and shire in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 225 km south-east of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Narrogin and Katanning. It is also on State Route 107. The main industries are wheat and sheep farming.

History

The name of the town is derived from "Wagin Lake", a usually dry salt lake south of the town. The name is Aboriginal, having been first recorded for the lake by a surveyor in 1869-72. There is uncertainty about the actual meaning of 'Wagin' but it is likely that it either means 'the place where emus watered' or is a variation of 'wedge-an' an Aboriginal word for 'emu'.

The first European explorer through the area was John Septimus Roe, the Surveyor General of Western Australia in 1835 en route to Albany from Perth. Between 1835 and 1889 a few settlers eked a simple living by cutting sandalwood and shepherding small flocks of sheep. Land was granted to pastoralists in the Wagin area from the late 1870s onwards.

The town itself came into existence after the construction of the Great Southern Railway which was completed in 1889 with the town originally called "Wagin Lake". [ "Wagin - Railway Crossroads in the Wheat Belt", Milne, Rod "Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin", October, 1991 pp 231-237] In 1898 Wagin was proclaimed a town with the word "Lake" dropped. [LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-01-17] A further railway connection with the Collie to Narrogin line at Bowelling was made on 10 December 1918. [ "Cross Country to Wagin", Milne, Rod "Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin", September, 1991 pp 207-214]

Present Day

Wagin is one of the largest towns in the Southern Wheatbelt region, and annually hosts the "Woolorama", one of Western Australia's largest Agricultural Shows. The event held in March regularly attracts over 30,000 visitors.

References

External links

* [http://www.wagin.wa.gov.au Shire of Wagin]
* [http://www.woolorama.com.au/ Woolorama website]
* [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_010647.shtml Climate of Wagin (Bureau of Meteorology)]